'Faith' in the Bible

And if God so clothes the wild herbage which to-day flourishes and to-morrow is thrown into the oven, is it not much more certain that He will clothe you, you men of little faith?

Jesus listened to this reply, and was astonished, and said to the people following Him, "I solemnly tell you that in no Israelite have I found faith as great as this.

"Why are you so easily frightened," He replied, "you men of little faith?" Then He rose and reproved the winds and the waves, and there was a perfect calm;

Here they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. Seeing their faith Jesus said to the paralytic, "Take courage, my child; your sins are pardoned."

And Jesus turned and saw her, and said, "Take courage, daughter; your faith has cured you." And the woman was restored to health from that moment.

So He touched their eyes and said, "According to your faith let it be to you."

And He performed but few mighty deeds there because of their want of faith.

Instantly Jesus stretched out His hand and caught hold of him, saying to him, "O little faith, why did you doubt?"

"O woman," replied Jesus, "great is your faith: be it done to you as you desire." And from that moment her daughter was restored to health.

Jesus perceived this and said, "Why are you reasoning among yourselves, you men of little faith, because you have no bread?

"Because your faith is so small," He replied; "for I solemnly declare to you that if you have faith like a mustard-seed, you shall say to this mountain, 'Remove from this place to that,' and it will remove; and nothing shall be impossible to you.

"I solemnly tell you," said Jesus, "that if you have an unwavering faith, you shall not only perform such a miracle as this of the fig-tree, but that even if you say to this mountain, 'Be thou lifted up and hurled into the sea,' it shall be done;

and everything, whatever it be, that you ask for in your prayers, if you have faith, you shall obtain."

For John came to you observing all sorts of ritual, and you put no faith in him: the tax-gatherers and the notorious sinners did put faith in him, and you, though you saw this example set you, were not even afterwards sorry so as to believe him.

Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralytic, "My son, your sins are pardoned."

"Why are you so timid?" He asked; "have you still no faith?"

"Daughter," He said, "your faith has cured you: go in peace, and be free from your complaint."

But Jesus, overhearing the words, said to the Warden, "Do not be afraid; only have faith."

Then the King, though intensely sorry, yet for the sake of his oaths, and of his guests, would not break faith with her.

Immediately the father cried out, "I do believe: strengthen my weak faith."

"Go," said Jesus, "your faith has cured you." Instantly he regained his sight, and followed Him along the road.

Jesus said to them, "Have faith in God.

He saw their faith and said to him, "Friend, your sins are forgiven."

Jesus listened to the Captain's message and was astonished at him, and He turned and said to the crowd that followed Him, "I tell you that not even in Israel have I found faith like that."

But He said to the woman, "Your faith has cured you: go, and be at peace."

"Where is your faith?" He asked them. But they were filled with terror and amazement, and said to one another, "Who then is this? for He gives orders both to wind and waves, and they obey Him."

"Daughter," said He, "your faith has cured you; go, and be at peace."

But if God so clothes the vegetation in the fields, that blooms to-day and to-morrow will be thrown into the oven, how much more certainly will He clothe you, you men of feeble faith!

And the Apostles said to the Lord, "Give us faith."

"If your faith," replied the Lord, "is like a mustard seed, you might command this black-mulberry-tree, 'Tear up your roots and plant yourself in the sea,' and instantly it would obey you.

And He said to him, "Rise and go: your faith has cured you."

Yes, He will soon avenge their wrongs. Yet, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth?"

"Recover your sight," said Jesus: "your faith has cured you."

But *I* have prayed for *you* that your faith may not fail, and you, when at last you have come back to your true self, must strengthen your brethren."

It is His name-- faith in that name being the condition--which has strengthened this man whom you behold and know; and the faith which He has given has made this man sound and strong again, as you can all see.

Among all those who had embraced the faith there was but one heart and soul, so that none of them claimed any of his possessions as his own, but everything they had was common property;

The suggestion met with general approval, and they selected Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas, a proselyte of Antioch.

Meanwhile God's Message continued to spread, and the number of the disciples in Jerusalem very greatly increased, and very many priests obeyed the faith.

But when Philip began to tell the Good News about the Kingdom of God and about the Name of Jesus Christ, and they embraced the faith, they were baptized, men and women alike.

For he was a good man, and was full of the Holy Spirit and of faith; and the number of believers in the Lord greatly increased.

After this man had listened to one of Paul's sermons, the Apostle, looking steadily at him and perceiving that he had faith to be cured,

Everywhere they strengthened the disciples by encouraging them to hold fast to the faith, and warned them saying, "It is through many afflictions that we must make our way into the Kingdom of God."

And in every Church, after prayer and fasting, they selected Elders by show of hands, and commended them to the Lord on whom their faith rested.

Upon their arrival they called the Church together and proceeded to report in detail all that God, working with them, had done, and how He had opened for the Gentiles the door of faith.

and He made no difference between us and them, in that He cleansed their hearts by their faith.

And Judas and Silas, being themselves also Prophets, gave them a long and encouraging talk, and strengthened them in the faith.

So the Churches went on gaining a stronger faith and growing in numbers from day to day.

and bringing the Apostles up into his house, he spread a meal for them, and was filled with gladness, with his whole household, his faith resting on God.

But some grew obstinate in unbelief and spoke evil of the new faith before all the congregation. So Paul left them, and, taking with him those who were disciples, held discussions daily in Tyrannus's lecture-hall.

Now just at that time there arose no small commotion about the new faith.

And they, when they had heard his statement, gave the glory to God. Then they said, "You see, brother, how many tens of thousands of Jews there are among those who have accepted the faith, and they are all zealous upholders of the Law.

But as for the Gentiles who have accepted the faith, we have communicated to them our decision that they are carefully to abstain from anything sacrificed to an idol, from blood, from what is strangled, and from fornication."

I persecuted to death this new faith, continually binding both men and women and throwing them into prison;

At this point Felix, who was fairly well informed about the new faith, adjourned the trial, saying to the Jews, "When the Tribune Lysias comes down, I will enter carefully into the matter."

Not long after this, Felix came with Drusilla his wife, a Jewess, and sending for Paul, listened to him as he spoke about faith in Christ Jesus.

that they may turn from darkness to light and from the obedience to Satan to God, in order to receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified through faith in Me.'

through whom we have received grace and Apostleship in His service in order to win men to obedience to the faith, among all Gentile peoples,

First of all, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for what He has done for all of you; for the report of your faith is spreading through the whole world.

in other words that while I am among you we may be mutually encouraged by one another's faith, yours and mine.

For in the Good News a righteousness which comes from God is being revealed, depending on faith and tending to produce faith; as the Scripture has it, "The righteous man shall live by faith."

a righteousness coming from God, which depends on faith in Jesus Christ and extends to all who believe. No distinction is made;

He it is whom God put forward as a Mercy-seat, rendered efficacious through faith in His blood, in order to demonstrate His righteousness-- because of the passing over, in God's forbearance, of the sins previously committed--

Where then is there room for your boasting? It is for ever shut out. On what principle? On the ground of merit? No, but on the ground of faith.

For we maintain that it is as the result of faith that a man is held to be righteous, apart from actions done in obedience to Law.

unless you can deny that it is one and the same God who will pronounce the circumcised to be acquitted on the ground of faith, and the uncircumcised to be acquitted through the same faith.

Do we then by means of this faith abolish the Law? No, indeed; we give the Law a firmer footing.

whereas in the case of a man who pleads no actions of his own, but simply believes in Him who declares the ungodly free from guilt, his faith is placed to his credit as righteousness.

This declaration of blessedness, then, does it come simply to the circumcised, or to the uncircumcised as well? For Abraham's faith--so we affirm--was placed to his credit as righteousness.

and the forefather of the circumcised, namely of those who not merely are circumcised, but also walk in the steps of the faith which our forefather Abraham had while he was as yet uncircumcised.

For if it is the righteous through Law who are heirs, then faith is useless and the promise counts for nothing.

All depends on faith, and for this reason--that acceptance with God might be an act of pure grace,

so that the promise should be made sure to all Abraham's true descendants; not merely to those who are righteous through the Law, but to those who are righteous through a faith like that of Abraham. Thus in the sight of God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and makes reference to things that do not exist, as though they did, Abraham is the forefather of all of us. As it is written, "I have appointed you to be the forefather of many nations."

And, without growing weak in faith, he could contemplate his own vital powers which had now decayed--for he was nearly 100 years old--and Sarah's barrenness.

Nor did he in unbelief stagger at God's promise, but became mighty in faith, giving glory to God,

For this reason also his faith was placed to his credit as righteousness.

it was for our sakes too. Faith, before long, will be placed to the credit of us also who are believers in Him who raised Jesus, our Lord, from the dead,

Standing then acquitted as the result of faith, let us enjoy peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

through whom also, as the result of faith, we have obtained an introduction into that state of favour with God in which we stand, and we exult in hope of some day sharing in God's glory.

To what conclusion does this bring us? Why, that the Gentiles, who were not in pursuit of righteousness, have overtaken it--a righteousness, however, which arises from faith;

And why? Because they were pursuing a righteousness which should arise not from faith, but from what they regarded as merit. They stuck their foot against the stone which lay in their way;

in agreement with the statement of Scripture, "See, I am placing on Mount Zion a stone for people to stumble at, and a rock for them to trip over, and yet he whose faith rests upon it shall never have reason to feel ashamed."

But the righteousness which is based on faith speaks in a different tone. "Say not in your heart," it declares, "'Who shall ascend to Heaven?'" --that is, to bring Christ down;

But what does it say? "The Message is close to you, in your mouth and in your heart;" that is, the Message which we are publishing about the faith--

And this proves that faith comes from a Message heard, and that the Message comes through its having been spoken by Christ.

This is true; yet it was their unbelief that cut them off, and you only stand through your faith.

For through the authority graciously given to me I warn every individual among you not to value himself unduly, but to cultivate sobriety of judgement in accordance with the amount of faith which God has allotted to each one.

But since we have special gifts which differ in accordance with the diversified work graciously entrusted to us, if it is prophecy, let the prophet speak in exact proportion to his faith;

I now pass to another subject. Receive as a friend a man whose faith is weak, but not for the purpose of deciding mere matters of opinion.

One man's faith allows him to eat anything, while a man of weaker faith eats nothing but vegetables.

As for you and your faith, keep your faith to yourself in the presence of God. The man is to be congratulated who does not pronounce judgement on himself in what his actions sanction.

But he who has misgivings and yet eats meat is condemned already, because his conduct is not based on faith; for all conduct not based on faith is sinful.

but has now been brought fully to light, and by the command of the God of the Ages has been made known by the writings of the Prophets among all the Gentiles to win them to obedience to the faith--

What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? They are just God's servants, through whose efforts, and as the Lord granted power to each, you accepted the faith.

to a third man, by means of the same Spirit, special faith; to another various gifts of healing, by means of the one Spirit;

If I possess the gift of prophecy and am versed in all mysteries and all knowledge, and have such absolute faith that I can remove mountains, but am destitute of Love, I am nothing.

And so there remain Faith, Hope, Love--these three; and of these the greatest is Love.

What then, brethren? Whenever you assemble, there is not one of you who is not ready either with a song of praise, a sermon, a revelation, a 'tongue,' or an interpretation. Let everything be done with a view to the building up of faith and character.

through which also you are obtaining salvation, if you bear in mind the words in which I proclaimed it--unless indeed your faith has been unreal from the very first.

And if Christ has not risen, it follows that what we preach is a delusion, and that your faith also is a delusion.

and if Christ has not risen, your faith is a vain thing--you are still in your sins.